The multifaceted nature of access to compounded progesterone: a cross-sectional study from Australia

Objective: To explore the influences on accessibility of compounded progesterone therapy for Australian women.

Study design: A cross-sectional survey of a stratified sample of Australian women who use progesterone only products using the 'Perspectives on Progesterone' questionnaire.

Main outcome measures: Principle components analysis (PCA) to determine components of access to progesterone treatment and multi-way analysis of variance to compare groups.

Results: Women using compounded progesterone were likely to have made at least one lifestyle adaptation (73%), and to have tried and stopped using at least one complementary and alternative medicine therapy (63%) or conventional hormone therapy (41%). PCA revealed six components of access to progesterone treatment: affordable, values natural treatments and is concerned about other treatments, conventionally available, perceived knowledge, values information gathered from a variety of sources, and rural & disadvantaged. The multifaceted nature of progesterone use illustrates that there are multiple aspects to use of non-conventional medicines. Women looking for non-conventional treatment are neither stupid nor uninformed, their understandings, based on experience and research, need to be addressed by health professionals while assessing their condition prior to discussing the risks and benefits of non-conventional medicines.

Conclusion: Access to compounded progesterone is multifaceted, and many of the women who use it have tried other treatments first. Despite the clinical ambivalence towards progesterone as an alternative for women who may have tried and rejected other treatments, including conventional hormone therapy, the women described in this paper are using it.